¡HOLA AMIGOS!

¿Cómo le va?

Its not cold anymore, it's a little weird. But we are loving it.

This week was pretty good. We found out that Mario Fica is moving down to the South side so we are both a little sad. But we are meeting with him tonight at the hospital and we are going to bring him some food. He is a funny man and if I get moved to the South Side, I will definitely be visiting him. But we finally got in with a less-active member that we have been trying for a long time. His name is Ulysses Santiago and he is a ex-boxer. He can speak English perfect but we invited him to church and he came! The sister missionaries are going to start meeting with him. Hopefully he can keep coming to church (the best place for anyone).

Brother Mayer fed us on Wenesday. He served his mission in Chile and he is one of my favorite members. We walk into his house and there is no food. He asks us what we feel like eating. We say Chinese and he orders a bunch of Chinese. It was so good! But we shared a message about prayer using the story of Enos. He showed us another cool thing. In 1 Nephi after Laman and Lemuel let Nephi go after ttying him up for like 4 days, the first thing he does is get on his knees and pray. Do we have this amount of gratitude in our lives?

Friday was super busy. We first went and had a lunch appointment with Hermana Pickell and her husband. She has to be one of the nicest women I have met. But then we got in with one of our new investigators Eric Aguilan and his family. They are from Hondures and have the cutest kids. They are former investigators so we reviewed and invited them to come out to church. Unfortunately, they did not make it, but we will met with them again next week. We then met with Anslemo Aleman, who is also a former and talked to him for an hour about the Godhead and how they are 3 different people. But he seems like he is interested, but I don't know about baptism. We will work with him. But we saw Gabriel and his family again. But the wife and children do not want to really be taught by us. They are Jehovah;s Witness and Gabriel is the only member of the church. But he came to church and he prays for his wife to see the truthfulness of the gospel. I pray that they can use the Spirit to find our way in to their hearts. 

Really good week overall, and more miracles to come!

Elder Kipp

¿Qué tal amigos?

WHOOLA!

 

¿Cómo están ustedes?

 

This week was super cold! It stayed at about negative 28 degrees celsius for most of the week but on Tuesday with the windchill it was about -40. It is the kind of cold that when you go outside it hurts your lungs. But we never really stayed outside long enough for it to be dangerous.

 

We found a lot of people to teach this week. We are definitely seeing the Lord's blessing in the work. Our teaching pool increased and we are looking forward to meeting with all these people next week. On Tuesday and Wednesday, we went on exchanges with the district leader. Elder Wan is my district leader and I went and worked in his area (which is technically my area too, ha ha). But Elder Wan is the only missionary that speaks Cantanese and Mandarin in the whole mission. He has to cover his area and then travel all over the city teaching the Chinese people as well. He is a very busy man. But I got the opportunity to teach a woman that was baptized on Saturday. Her name is Tawne and she is from the Ivory Coast. I have to say she has the coolest hair ever. But is was a cool experience because when we started talking about prayer she opened up and told us about her experiences through all the civil war in her country.

 

On Thursday we had dinner with the Mesen's. They are definitely one of my favorite families out here and they made this fettucini alfredo with shrimp and they expected us to eat it all. I thought I was going to die and Elder EZ was turning red and getting really hot. It was funny. We also met with Mr. Mario Fica and he has moved hospitals. It turns out that it was the one that is right across from our apartment. He wants us to come over and see him every day now! But he is walking better now and just waiting to be moved to a permanent housing location.

 

We met with Vianney on Friday since he recently moved and it turns out that the people that he is living with are from Mexico and Gabriel the father is a member! He is married and has three children. He is inactive and they moved from Puerta Vallarta about two weeks ago. He was a spear fisherman and he took tourists out on his boat. We invited them to come to church yesterday and they showed up! Even though they could not speak any English, two return missionaries really helped us out and got them to the classes they needed to go to. It is hard because there are no Spanish families in their ward, but I think they had a great time. The wife seemed very interested in the Plan of Salvation when they talked about it in Gospel Doctrine. So, we are super excited to start teaching them. Thanks Vianney!!

 

We also met with two former investigators from a long time ago. Enslemo from Nicaragua is totally a cowboy. We met with him for only about 20 minutes but he is interested in having us come back and visit with him. He remembers a lot about the Book of Mormon and seems interested so we are excited. Last night we were blessed to go visit Maricio. We walked in and I could tell that he was a little apprehensive. As we began to talk to him, his mood seemed to change and he wants to meet with us again this week. It's amazing how the Spirit works.

 

Spiritual Thought: D&C 82:3

 

Thanks for all the prayers and love. Just remeber to share a smile with those you meet and if you get the chance, share your testimony. Everyone is a missionary!

 

Elder Kipp

ITS COLDDDD!!!!!!!

¿Qué hubo ve amigos?

 

Elder Ez and I left the apartment today and it was a whopping -27C outside. It is the kind of cold that if you are outside for more than 10 minutes, even in warm clothes, it starts to hurt. It also dumped on us about a foot of snow the last two days and we are execting a lot more to come. This is the kind of weather that people told me to expect when I was coming here.

 

We had interviews on Thursday with President Cambell. They were shorter than I expected but they went very well. I came out thinking that this man really was chosen by God to direct this mission. We did not reach our goal for baptisms this past year, but we have made a lot of goals and are going to try really hard with the help of the Lord to meet our goal this year. He gave me some great advice that I will take for myself and for my area. Sometimes I feel as though the Lord provides me guidance through everyone around me. It is really amazing the way that we can receive personal revelation for ourselves and for those around us.

 

This week was a good one for the area. We visited Mario again earlier in the week and he is always happy to see us. We are becoming really good friends with him and are trying to bring his spirits up every chance we get. We also met with Sister Hernandez (Carlos's wife). She is doing really well while Carlos is in Mexico. She tells us that he is still going to church down there and trying really hard to get back up here to be with his family. She is always happy and cheerful through her trial. She is so strong. I can't imagine being away from your husband with a new baby, that looks exactly like Carlos! But that reminds me - on Thursday after district meeting we went to Subway, and I have to say it kinda stinks. Mom, you would not approve! It was a lot more expensive and there was like half the number of sandwiches. But we taught English class on Wenseday and it was good to see Victor since he moved out of our area. I have to say his laugh is the funniest ever.

 

We met with the Diaz family again on Thursday for dinner and shared a message about faith. The little son ( I can't remember his name) really wanted to eat the scriptures when we had them in our hands. It was funny because he really wanted to "feast on the words of Christ"! They are a great family and we are trying to figure if they have been to the temple or not. We also met with our usual less actives, the Cruz family and also Lilia Sanchez. But on Saturday we were visiting potentials in one of our wards and we came across a man named Armando. He is from Chile and he told us to come back and see him on Sunday. We brought a memer with us, Brother Cristancho, who is a complete stud, and shared a quick message with him. He seems to not be too receptive but he wantsto meet with us again. We also met with Ruben and Cindy yesterday. We shared the first lesson with them and the Spirit was really strong. They have desires to keep meeting with us, but he is on oxygen because he needs a lung transplant. He cannot go to church for this reason and it is really hard for him to get up and walk around. But we are praying for him and can really see these two getting baptized. Trust in the Lord!!!

 

 

Spiritual Thought: Matthew 5. Read the "Be-Attitudes" and see if you are striving to meet up to these standards. It really is eye opening.

 

¡Gracious por todo!

Mucho Mucho Amor

 

Elder Kippppp!

BOOYAHYAH!

¡Hola! ¿Cómo le va?

 

The weather in Edmonton has been really weird lately. It has been above zero for the past two weeks. I know that sounds pretty cold, but in celcius it is pretty warm. And compared to what it should be, it is hot. There is no snow on the ground and people are getting really scared that it is just going to dump on us in the next week. I am prepared with my big coat and a nice pair of gloves.

 

So in the begginning of the week, President decided to get ride of QGC's (Quality Gospel Conversations). This is one of our key indicators that we use to gauge our progress. But we really liked them because it gave us a goal of how many people we were able to talk to that day. So we just moved on. But then after a few days, the zone leaders called us and said that they are back in. We were really excited and are hoping to get more of them. It is funny on the mission how little things excite you that probably wouldn't before. But it is good to become excited in this work that is so important.

 

On Tuesday we had a lesson scheduled with a former investigator family that seemed excited to meet with us. The father's name was Erik Aguilar. Unfortunately, they were not there and we tried to call them but they did not awnser. It is always a bummer when you are excited for a lesson and then things fall through. But we are hopefully going to get in contact with him this week. We went and visited the loco Mario Fica in the hospital and he seemed to be doing better. He was telling us that he was not going to be able to move back to his apartment because of his legs. But he is in good hands. ("Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there") On Thursday we had a meeting with our stake leaders for the Spanish work in the city. We just discussed about activities that we are going to have in the next six months to bring the Spanish community together. At the end of this month, we are going to have a testimony meeting that we can bring less active members and investigators to. We are looking forward to this.

 

We met with a YSA member named Allen Garcia on Wednesday night and he made us the best tamales. He is from Mexico and was baptized when he got up here. He told us his conversion story and it was very strong and uplifting. But man, these tamales where to die for and of course he gave us a giant bag to take home that we are still eating. We got hooked up this week with food. On Saturday night, we visited a member family that lives about 20 minutes north of the city. She is from Chile and LOVES missionaries. She gave us 4 huge bags of food. I about fell on the floor. Her husband is very funny and just wanted to talk about the Bible forever. You would have loved our conversation Dad.

 

We met a potential this week named Arturo. He is from Chile and had the coolest beard I have ever seen. But everytime we go back to see him, he is not home. So hopefully you will hear more about him. I would really like to meet with him because he seems very interested in talking with us. We also visited a family that the bishop of one of the wards asked us to visit. They are from Guatemala and they were talking to us about how much the church is expanding there. They are having us over for dinner next week. BOOYAH! Oh and Vainney is back in our area. We brought him to church yesterday and he absolutely loved it! All the Spanish return missionaries warmed up to him and he also met with the bishop!! I love that guy!

 

Spiritual Thought: Christ. Thats all that we need. Simple. Concise. Easy to Understand.

 

Mucho Amor

 

Elder Kipp

¡Feliz Año Nuevo!

The beginning of my golden year as a missionary! Everyone says that this will be the best and fastest year of my life. But I am super excited and ready to see what the Lord has in store for me and the people that I will be able to meet. It has been the weirdest winter ever, though, because it has not snowed for a month!  I actually want it to snow now because it would be a change from the gloomy weather we have been having. It should snow here soon; I will have to send you guys some.

 

Last week was a little weird because on Saturday for New Years Eve we had to be in by 6 p.m.. President did not want us out driving around while all the drunk people were roaming the streets. We all need to teach them the Palabra de Sabiduria! But we got in and we were able to stay up. One of the advantages to living on the 11th floor downtown was that we got to watch the fireworks go off. They were surprisingly big and we got a perfect view. But other than that it was a bad choice to stay up becasue I was tired the whole next day.

 

Last week was a little difficult because we struggled finding people to teach. A lot of people were not home and if they were they did not want to meet until next week. But on Friday the Spanish people in our stake had a dance party to welcome in the new year. We went and were happy to see a lot of non-members there that we could talk to and set up some things. Mauricio and Diego, two students from our English class were there and they had a great time. I love these two guys. They are both married and work with Brother Alejo. The party turned out very successful and we were able to help set up and give some service. But we got in contact with Ruban and Cindy again the other day and we are looking to meet with them sometime this week. But I have some other great news. Vianney is back in our area! He has recently moved and were are looking forward to meeting with him and making him feel welcome in his new ward. I love this guy and sincerely want him to keep the covenents that he made.

 

We visited Mario Fica in the hospital and he was telling us that he might have cancer in his leg. But he is always happy to see us and I want him to feel that he is going to be ok. He has great faith in his Heavenly Father and is praying everyday. I hope he can get better and feel the love that his Savior has for him.

 

Spiritual Thought: I know you do this every year dad, but I read through Alma 5 and asked myself if I am closer to my Savior this year than I was last year. I feel like we need to consider this often in our own lives and see if we are being more like the Savior in word and deed and especially if we have His image in our countanance. Let us all strive to become more like our Savior.

 

Mucho mucho amor,

 

Elder Kipp

 

P.S. I LOVE YOU!!!